Claiming the Captain
by KnittingElfPrincess
Summary: One year after the Lunar rebellion, Thorne, Cress, Scarlet, and Wolf are busy delivering the letumosis antidote to the American Republic. Cress isn't happy, though, because Thorne has been distant ever since they confessed their love on Luna. Cress will need to lay claim to her bravery if she's ever going to claim the Captain. (This is my first fanfic ever-I am so excited/scared!)
1. Chapter 1

Cress ran her hands through her short hair. Even though it had been over a year since Thorne had first cut it, she still had trouble believing how light she felt, how free. Free in so many ways. The past months on the Rampion had introduced her to dozens of places in the American Republic as the crew delivered the letumosis antidote. She had seen mountains, forests, rivers, and oceans. Thorne had worried that she would think the Rampion just as much of a prison as her satellite had been, but it wasn't. Being on the Rampion led her to these places, and with Wolf and Scarlet and Thorne she didn't feel caged even when quarters were tight.

And quarters were tight. But not because of the ship's size. No, they were tight because Thorne seemed to take up so much space even as he tried to give her as much space as possible. Cress sighed, tugging at her hair, wishing she could wind it around her wrists like she used to. Thorne had said he was going to become the man that he deserved.

"But I love the man you are _now_ ," she whispered to the wall of her bunk bed. He had thrown himself into the work of bringing the antidote to people in the American Republic, and he had just paid off the ship, but he still treated her like something fragile and precious, something he was not allowed to touch. That day on Luna when he had lain next to her, had kissed her—that had been the last time she had felt how much he wanted her, loved her. She shook her head at herself; she still knew he loved her. Each time she looked up from a task to find his eyes on her, she saw it. But knowing that he loved her in her head and feeling it with her whole being were two very different things.

A knock sounded on the door to her quarters.

"Yes?"

"Cress?" Scarlet's voice was faint behind the thick metal door. "Can I come in?"

Cress sat up, brushed away a tear that she refused to think about, and ran her hands through her hair to make it neater. "Yes—it's not locked."

Scarlet pulled the door open and looked at Cress with concern in her warm, brown eyes. "Hey," she said as she closed the door, "Are you OK? Dinner's just about to start, and I hadn't seen you in a while."

"Oh, yes, I'm fine," Cress stumbled over the words as she rushed to get them out. "I just, I was, um, napping."

Scarlet lifted one eyebrow and gestured to the empty space next to Cress on the bunk. Cress nodded, and Scarlet sat down.

"I know you're a brilliant hacker, but that was a pretty terrible lie."

Cress twisted her hands around each other, not wanting to look over at Scarlet. "It's…it's, well, it's personal." She had known Scarlet for the least amount of time of the crew, and even though they had flown all over an entire hemisphere of the Earth together, Cress still was a little in awe of her. She was confident, brave, arrestingly beautiful, everything Cress felt she wasn't.

"Hey," Scarlet said, putting a hand on Cress' arm, stilling her hands' restless movements, "I get it if you don't want to talk, but you seem unhappy lately. And I don't like having an unhappy member of the…pack." Her lips quirked up at this. Cress gave a weak chuckle. Then, as she thought about herself as a wolf, she laughed.

"If I'm a pack member, what am I, an omega?" Her laughter died. She would be the weakling, the one who kept the pack back. Scarlet squeezed her arm.

"Definitely not. You may not be as big as the rest of us, but you're smart, and wolf packs need smarts. And we don't yell at or pick on you. That's what Thorne is for." Now Cress did laugh.

"Poor Captain. He'd hate to hear _that_." But again her amusement faded away as quickly as it had come. She sniffed as tears threatened to spill over.

"Cress…I don't want to pry, but you're unhappy about Thorne, right?" Cress nodded, not trusting her voice to be steady.

"You do know he's crazy about you? I'm pretty sure even Darla has that figured out by now, and she's one of the less intelligent androids I've met."

Cress nodded again and took a deep breath. "I know it, but I'm just so confused—if he's crazy about me, then why not show it to me?" Cress took a shuddering breath, and Scarlet moved her arm to drape around Cress' shoulder in a loose hug. "I just, I just don't know what to do. I know I was mad at everyone for thinking I'm naive, but you were right. Watching net dramas doesn't really teach you much about real people or what to do when, when…"

"When it's more complicated than 'happily ever after'?"

Cress gulped and nodded. "Exactly."

Scarlet looked thoughtful. "I'm not a relationship expert, or if I am, it's only when it comes to being with a human-wolf hybrid. But I think you should ask him why he's keeping his distance." When Cress didn't say anything, Scarlet plunged on, speaking quickly. "You see, after we defeated Levana, Wolf—Ze'ev—he thought I might not want to be with him anymore after what she did to him. If we hadn't talked about it, who knows what would have happened?"

Cress shook her head. "But Scarlet, you're brave. I only made it through all of that by pretending to be someone else, by imagining myself playing a role. I can't play a role with the Captain."

Scarlet was gentle as she took Cress' shoulders and turned her so that they were facing each other. "Cress, I may not know you as well as I'd like, but I do know that you're brave. When you contacted Cinder to tell her about Levana's plot, when you hid the Rampion from radar even though you knew you could be killed for it, when you broke into the Lunar control center and broadcast that video, you were brave, and you were also _you_."

Cress managed a smile. "I was a little bit heroic with that last one."

"A little?" Scarlet scoffed. "A lot. I couldn't have done what you did that day—hack Luna's broadcast system, figure out how to break the security codes, and all while people were coming for you. We would have failed without you."

"We would have failed without you, without a lot of people."

Scarlet smiled. "Isn't that how a pack works—together?" Cress returned the smile. "You're part of the pack, Cress, and I'll be here for you whether you talk to Thorne or not, but I think you should, and soon. I don't think he's any happier about things than you are."

Cress tried to remember that she could be heroic, that she could be brave, but the thought of leaving her quarters to go face him at that moment was too much. "Scarlet?" She reached out and squeezed her left hand, the one missing part of the pinkie finger. "I'll try to be brave, but right now I think I need to figure out what I want to say."

Scarlet nodded. "I'll bring you some food. I can also make some vague excuse for you that will keep the guys from asking any questions."

"Thanks," Cress said as Scarlet started to close the door. After it shut, she looked down at her hands. "I am brave," she whispered, hoping that saying the words aloud would make it true.


	2. Chapter 2

Thorne left the ship in Darla's charge as he made his way out of the cockpit to the ship's galley, which smelled delicious.

"I do hire the best people," he said to himself with a smug smile. "Want good food on board? Hire a farmer." Even though Scarlet was down to canned goods by now in the pantry, she and Wolf still managed to turn out tasty meals. His stomach rumbled.

"I heard that, Captain," said Wolf, poking his head around the door to the galley.

"The crew should never remark on the noises a captain's stomach might make," Thorne retorted, laughing. Wolf's smile was full of sharp teeth as he ducked back, letting Thorne in through the door. Wolf had been smiling more lately, Thorne realized, as he grew used to his new face and as Scarlet continued to show every sign of wanting to keep him beside her. That thought seemed too serious, so he tried to shake it off as he sat down at the table, but then he noticed only three places were set.

"Where's Cress?" He tried to keep his pulse from accelerating with worry, but his mutinous heart started thumping in his chest. Wolf could probably hear it.

"Oh," Scarlet waved off the question as she set a plate of steaming rolls on the table, "She's fine. Just a little tired and a headache, so I told her to lie down and I'd bring her something later."

"No rash?" Thorne clenched his hands around the utensils, as if squeezing them hard enough could get more information out of Scarlet.

"No, definitely not," Scarlet pushed the rolls toward Thorne as Wolf maneuvered a large pot of chili onto the table.

Wolf leaned toward Thorne and said in a stage whisper, "This is all code for 'mind your own business, this is woman-related stuff.'" Scarlet rolled her eyes.

"Wolf, it's not a code if you tell everyone what it means."

Thorne relaxed a little, but he could still feel his heart beating against his ribs. Seeing Cress every day was torture, but not seeing her was even worse. He began to eat the food mechanically, not paying attention to the conversation Scarlet and Wolf were having. Their conversations didn't really require him—after a year together on a ship their alpha bond had grown even stronger, which Thorne had not thought possible. He had seen Wolf disintegrate when Scarlet had been held captive on Luna, and he knew that Scarlet had not even thought twice about staying with Wolf after Levana had put him through the torture of more surgeries and genetic manipulation. They just were.

Thorne must have made a sound, because Scarlet asked, "Is everything all right, Captain?"

He pasted on a lazy smile. "Why of course, Miss Benoit. I was just regretting leaving behind all of those beauties in Texas earlier this week." This time both Wolf and Scarlet rolled their eyes.

"What?" he retorted. "Just because I'm now a legitimate businessman doesn't mean I've left behind _all_ of my past." Thorne waggled his eyebrows in what he hoped was a convincing display of mischievousness.

"We believe you on that count," Scarlet said. "But you do seem to be a little low on swagger lately. Maybe you should look for someone to get you some more when we're in port next."

Thorne pushed back from the table and mimed being stabbed in the heart. "You wound me, beautiful Miss Benoit. Since neither of you appreciate my all-too-obvious charms, I will return to the cockpit. At least Darla knows my worth." He whirled out of the galley with a flourish and heard Wolf guffaw before Scarlet started a whispered conversation. Thorne frowned. He could ask Darla what they were saying when he got to the cockpit, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Thorne collapsed into the captain's chair, which gave him a view of the Milky Way as the ship glided toward Luna. The Rampion was due for a rendezvous with a Lunar craft in 8 hours to take more antidote on board, so he should be heading to bed, but he didn't want to be cramped up in his bunk in the windowless sleeping quarters right now. It was too easy to be _serious_ there, too easy to think about Cress. At least with the view out of the cockpit he could remember that he was just a tiny speck of dust compared to the galaxy surrounding him and that his problems were equally tiny, so he should just laugh them off and enjoy what he could.

"We are still on course, Captain," Darla's voice was flat and calm coming through a speaker, "Is there anything you would like done in the meantime?"

"No," replied Thorne, rubbing his face and feeling the stubble he had allowed to start growing. "You can go do whatever android things you want to do."

"Being useful to you is all I want to do, Captain," Darla replied. Thorne knew that the auto-control system on the Rampion didn't require a reply to be perfectly content, so he lapsed into silence.

After a few minutes, however, he was up and pacing the length of the cockpit, the view of the galaxy doing nothing to sooth or distract him. Tonight, all it made him think of was how often Cress had seen this view while she was a prisoner of Sybil on that satellite, and how he had become her reluctant rescuer. Thorne had not allowed his mind to range over the memories of meeting Cress, surviving the desert with her, seeing her as if for the first time when he got his eyesight back…thinking about these would inevitably lead him back to that night on Luna when they had kissed and then, later—

Thorne slammed his fist into the cockpit wall. He would not think about the throne room. He would not.

"Captain?" Darla's voice came back over the speaker.

"Sorry, Darla," Thorne replied. "I will stop hitting the cockpit, and don't worry—I aimed for a blank part of the wall."

He ran his hands through his hair, mussing it, and said, "I can't keep this up. I'll go crazy."

"Captain, would you like me to research signs of insanity?" Darla's voice remained calm. Thorne couldn't help a quick, humorless bark of laughter.

"No, Darla. But I don't suppose you could figure out a way for me to be around Cress without feeling incredibly guilty or like I'll die if I don't touch her?" He froze, not believing he had just said that out loud. But Darla was an android, so it's not like she was going to run to Cress and tell her everything. Iko would, but Darla lacked Iko's creativity.

"That is beyond my programming, Captain," Darla said. "I want to be useful to you, but I am programmed not to lie, and so I cannot answer your question." Thorne laughed, a real laugh this time.

"I am going crazy, if I'm asking my ship's auto-control system for advice." He fell back into the captain's seat. "But," he turned his face toward the speaker, "I do like what you said about not lying. Whatever happens, I think I need to stop lying, at least to myself."

"Thank you," Darla replied. "I am glad that I could be useful."

Thorne shook his head, still wondering what had led him to ask Darla, of all androids, for advice. "Stars above, Thorne," he said, getting up from the seat and heading toward his quarters, "You have gotten yourself into a mess you can't lie or steal your way out of."


	3. Chapter 3

Cress stared at the bottom of the bunk above her, as if it could tell her exactly what to say to Thorne. Even though Scarlet had suggested asking him why he was distant, she just could not imagine that question coming out of her mouth without it turning into a pathetic squeak.

"No more squeaking," she told herself.

Anyway, the more she thought about it, the more Cress realized that she knew why Thorne was still cautious around her. He still believed that he was no good and that she was, that somehow her isolation in the satellite for all those years made her pure, untouchable. And sure, she hadn't understood all of the complexities of real relationships, given her unusual education through net dramas and operas, but she suspected he didn't either.

Cress sat up, so fast she almost hit her head on the top bunk.

"That's it!" She got up and started to pace the room, a plan forming in her head. After a couple of times around her quarters, Cress realized that they were too small for a good bout of pacing. Plus, her stomach was grumbling. Scarlet had brought a tray to her, but that had been hours ago—it must be the middle of what they were calling night. Cress slipped out of her room and walked toward the galley.

As she got close, she realized that the lights were on, and she slowed, trying to make as little noise as possible. Maybe it was Scarlet, which she wouldn't mind—Cress could run the plan by her, maybe even talk her into doing a practice run. But Cress felt in her bones that her luck wasn't that good.

She was right.

Cress peeked around the edge of the wall to see Thorne sitting at the table, his head in his hands and a mug of tea sitting neglected off to the side. She whipped back around the corner, heart pounding. She didn't feel ready, not at all. As she worked to control her breathing, Cress tried to think of the situation like a problem that she could solve with code. She could run a program that took her back to her quarters, where she could work on her plan more. She could create a riskier code, one that would take her into the galley to face Thorne. Or, she sighed inwardly, she could run no program at all and just stay in the same place forever until she was permanently stuck to the wall.

What would the brave version of herself do? Not Cress pretending to be an actress, an explorer, or a spy, but Cress. The Cress who helped dethrone Levana, the Cress who survived the Sahara desert, the Cress who had found her courage time and time before. She shook herself. It was time to be that Cress once and for all.

Thorne looked up, surprise in his face, as Cress entered the galley. He jumped up from the table and tried to smooth down his messy hair.

"Cress! Are you OK? You weren't at dinner."

She gave him a small smile at this statement of the obvious. "Yes, I'm fine. Couldn't you sleep? We're going to be meeting up with the Lunar ship in just a few hours."

He hesitated. Cress could see him trying to come up with a lighthearted comment, but she was glad when he couldn't and just shrugged instead.

Cress grabbed a roll from the counter and sat down at the table, and Thorne followed suit.

"Actually, Captain, I'm glad you're up. I want to, well, I want to talk with you about something."

A look of panic crossed Thorne's face. "Wait, Cress, I hope—"

She put a hand on top of his, silencing him. "No, I want to go first." She waited a beat to see if he would try to interrupt. He just nodded, silent. She took her hand away and started to fiddle with the roll to give her nerves an outlet.

"Here is what I think the facts are. You are avoiding being too close to me or alone with me, right?"

Thorne opened his mouth, looking like he was going to deny her words, but at a look from her, he just nodded again.

"I thought so. And am I right to say that you're avoiding me because you still think you're too flawed and I'm going to realize I deserve better?"

He slumped back in his chair and nodded again. Cress smiled, a brilliant, huge smile.

"You idiot!" She grabbed his hands. "Why are you determined to be a martyr?"

"A, a _martyr_?" He looked up, meeting her gaze. "I'm just trying to do the right thing."

"Without even asking me if I had any suggestions about what the right thing is!" The words popped out of her mouth before she thought about them, but they felt right, and they felt a little angry.

"Just because you've been around other people more than me doesn't mean you get to make decisions about, about us without even talking to me first. I'm not a child."

He looked affronted. "I don't think you're a child, Cress, but I don't think you realize—"

"No," her voice rose. Stars, was she almost shouting? "I don't think you realize. Did you ever stop to think that I have committed more crimes and more serious crimes than you?"

His mouth hung open as he took this in. She could have laughed if she weren't so mad. "All of those times I hacked Earthen feeds, security cameras, and hid Lunar ships from radar. All of the crimes I committed when we kidnapped Kai and started the rebellion on Luna. I was committing treason, I was doing international espionage." She spoke those crimes slowly, as if he needed time to think about them and realize their seriousness. "And what did you do, steal a measly ship?"

Cress pushed herself up from the table and then slammed her hands down on it. "I am sick of you acting like you're not good enough for me. It's like you're putting me back up in that satellite, so high up you can't reach me. Well, you know what?" She leaned forward. "When you put me up there I can't reach you, and I hate it."

Thorne closed his mouth, then opened it, taking a breath to speak.

"I'm not done yet," Cress could feel the power of her glare closing his mouth again, almost like she had the gift and could control his actions. Another part of her brain was watching her in disbelief—surely this wasn't her who was bossing around Thorne?—but she plunged on, using the tide of anger to carry her through what she wanted to say. "I'm becoming friends with Scarlet and Wolf, but I also hate them, because I watch them together, and they're so close. They aren't afraid to touch each other when we're around, they aren't afraid to enjoy each other's company, and all I do is look at them and think, 'that's what Thorne and I could be.' Do you know how awful it is to hate your friends for being happy?"

Cress had to pause for breath. Her hands were shaking against the table top. She sat down quickly, hiding her hands in her lap. As quickly as her anger had come, it was gone, leaving her feeling empty and vulnerable. She couldn't bear to look up.

Thorne cleared his throat. "Actually, I do."


	4. Chapter 4

Thorne spoke in as gentle a tone as he could muster, hoping Cress would stop hiding her face. He could feel something blooming behind his sternum, something dangerously close to happiness.

"I do know, because I have been thinking the same thing about them, hating how easy it seems to be for them. And stars above, Cress, how can it be easy for them? After all Levana has done to Wolf. But she just changed his outside. Inside he's still loyal and, well, Wolf. But I've told you, I don't have a good history of loyalty."

Cress raised her head, looking a little defiant again. Good. He could work with defiant.

"And I know I love you, and I know that this," he gestured at the both of them, "is different than anything I've experienced in the past, but I'm—" Throne broke off and shoved his hands into his hair. "I'm afraid, Cress. I stabbed you, and I know it wasn't _me_ , but I do know that I could hurt you again, not physically, but I could break your heart."

He had to stop and take a deep, shaky breath. Saying the truth hurt, but he felt lighter now that it was out. Cress' eyes flashed.

"And I could never hurt you?" She shook her head. "No, Captain—Thorne—I don't think that's a good enough reason. I've only been around other people for a little over a year, but you know what I've noticed? Everyone gets hurt, and everyone hurts someone else. Even all alone up on that satellite I got hurt, by Sybil, by my parents' rejection." She got up and moved to his side of the table, resting one hand on his arm, coaxing his hands out of his hair. "I'd rather take the risk of being hurt in the future than not do anything and keep hurting right now."

Thorne turned to look at her, hoping that she wouldn't notice how shallow his breaths were. She had to be the bravest person he knew. Sure, she was tiny, she was a shell, and she had spent almost half her life imprisoned between Earth and Luna, but she was brave, and in that moment it made her magnificent.

"Cress," he sighed and reached for her, but she held back his hands.

"Thorne, no. I need to do this. I claim you. You may not think you deserve it, but it doesn't matter, because I am making this decision." And without pausing, she leaned in, took his face between her hands, and kissed him.

Stars swept across the insides of Thorne's eyelids as he sank into the kiss. So long—he had spent so long pushing this away that now, well, he just might faint. His hands moved to cradle Cress' face, to stroke her cheeks with his thumbs, to run his fingers through her hair. But that wasn't enough. Without pulling back, he gathered her in his arms and pulled her to sit on his lap. Cress made a small, surprised sound in her throat, and drew back for a second. Thorne opened his eyes to see hers just inches away, blue as the summer sky and just as bright. She smiled.

Thorne felt his heart stop for just a second. He didn't care if it ever started again, as long as he could keep this image in his mind for whatever time he had left. A laugh bubbled up and out of him.

"Shall we make up for lost time?" He put on his most rakish expression.

"Oh stars, yes," she said, and then she was kissing him again.

He ran his hands down her back and felt her shiver. He gathered her closer to him and felt her arch against him. Her hands were in his hair, holding his head still so that she could explore. Her kisses moved from his mouth to his jaw, tentative at first, almost ticklish against the stubble he hadn't bothered to shave off. He sighed into her ear, "Cress."

"Yes?" She sat back just a little so that she could look at his face.

"Do you want to—?" He moved his head in the direction of the sleeping quarters. She laughed, and if she blushed while she laughed, he didn't care.

"Not right now," she leaned her forehead against his. "I'm afraid that if I let you up, you might run away. You're staying here."

Thorne did not object.

He didn't know how much later it was when Scarlet came in to find them still in the chair, dozing now, their arms looped around each other.

"Oh," Scarlet said, and backed around the corner. "Um, do you need a minute?"

Cress lifted her head up from Thorne's shoulder, her eyes sleepy. He smiled at her, brushing a lock of hair back from her eyes. She smiled back.

"It's OK, Scarlet," Cress said, her voice steady even as her cheeks reddened. "We were just…talking."

Scarlet edged back into the galley and gave Cress a knowing smile. "Yes, I can see that you had a productive conversation." Cress laughed a little, but a yawn interrupted it.

"We're due to dock with the Lunar ship in an hour, Captain," Scarlet said, turning her gaze to Thorne.

Thorne stared at her for a second. Ship? Then he remembered.

"Oh yes, of course. I assume you won't allow me to pilot during the docking, o mutinous crew member?"

"No," Scarlet shot back. "In fact, I'm a little worried about you both. The antidote vials are fragile, and we wouldn't want any mishaps." Scarlet winked at Cress. "May I suggest, Captain, that you leave me and Wolf in charge of the antidote transfer while you and Cress get some rest?"

Thorne hesitated. Not that he was worried about Scarlet and Wolf's abilities, but what would Cress' reaction be?

Cress took a breath and said, "If the Captain doesn't object, I think that's a good idea. I'm—" she broke off to yawn, "not going to be much help. It's not like you need a hacker on hand for this."

Thorne smiled and slid Cress to stand on the floor while he stood up himself and took her hand.

"I will escort our fair hacker to her quarters to ensure her safety," he said with a mock bow to Scarlet. She smirked at him as they left the galley.

At the door to her quarters, Cress turned to Thorne. "I really am tired, you know."

"Does that mean I'm not allowed inside?" He leaned against the wall and reached up to play with her hair.

"No," she paused, "It just means that you have to let me sleep."

"I don't think that will be a problem," he smoothed her hair behind her ear. "But just so I know, when we wake up, do I get to kiss you?"

Cress nodded.

"Do I get to hold you?"

She nodded again.

"Do I get to tell you if you were snoring?"

Cress shoved his shoulder with her hand and pulled him into the room.

"I knew you couldn't be serious for too long."

The bunk looked inviting to his exhausted eyes, but Thorne swept her into his arms for one more kiss. "I may not be serious much, Cress," he said softly as they snuggled up together on the bunk, "But I'm serious about loving you."


End file.
